Japanese Designers Build Breakfast Machine That Makes Coffee and Eggs

Hollywood has long fantasized about machines that cook your entire breakfast while you sleep—but now, two Japanese designers have built one for real. The result isn’t science fiction: it’s a massive, Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that fries eggs, grinds coffee beans, toasts bread, spreads butter and jam, squeezes orange juice, and brews coffee—all on its own. The question isn’t whether it can be done—it’s how they pulled it off.

Yes, it’s real: a 13-meter-long, 3-meter-wide breakfast machine built in 11 days and 88 hours by Suzuki Yurie and Kimura Masahiko. It automatically fries eggs, grinds coffee beans, toasts and butters bread, juices oranges, and brews coffee without any human intervention. Total cost? Around £900, mostly from scavenged parts.

What the Breakfast Machine Actually Does

The machine is a sprawling, multi-part system designed to prepare a full breakfast with zero hands-on work. It starts with a chicken coop (presumably stocked) where eggs roll into a funnel. Inside, the eggs are cracked, the yolks and whites separated and mixed, then poured onto an electric griddle to cook. Meanwhile, bread moves along a conveyor belt, gets sliced by a blade, then enters an oven. Once toasted, a basket lifts the slices into a paint-roller-like device that spreads butter and jam.

The coffee system is just as detailed: coffee beans are fed into a motorized grinder, then dropped into a filter. A pulley system draws boiling water from an overhead kettle and pours it into the coffee filter. Oranges roll through a tube, get sliced, juiced, and the fresh juice is filtered into a cup. Every step—egg frying, coffee brewing, bread toasting, juice squeezing—is mechanized and sequenced to finish together.

How They Built It

Suzuki Yurie, who moved from Tokyo to Hackney, London, three years ago, drew inspiration from classic Hollywood films like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Back to the Future, where fantastical breakfast machines play a starring role. He and collaborator Kimura Masahiko assembled the machine at Amsterdam’s Platform 21 exhibition center, with help from dozens of volunteers and other designers who contributed parts and labor.

The build used everyday objects repurposed for mechanical tasks—alarm clocks, record players, and more. The entire structure spans 13 meters in length and 3 meters in width. Construction took 11 days and 88 hours, with the team working tirelessly to synchronize all the moving parts. Suzuki likened the experience to being a conductor, orchestrating a complex machine that, when completed, felt entirely under his control.

Why This Matters to Coffee Lovers

While the machine’s primary appeal is its sheer absurdity and ingenuity, the coffee-making segment is a fascinating deep dive into automation. The beans are ground immediately before brewing, ensuring freshness—a principle any specialty coffee enthusiast will appreciate. The boiling water is precisely channeled from a kettle through tubing to the coffee grounds, mimicking the pour-over process but without human hands. For coffee fans, it’s a playful yet functional demonstration of how brewing essentials—fresh grind, hot water, proper pouring—can be mechanized without losing quality.

The project also highlights how a group of creative individuals, using scavenged materials and collaborative effort, can turn a wild idea into a working prototype. Suzuki estimates the total cost at around £900, proving that ambition and ingenuity can go a long way on a modest budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly does the breakfast machine make?

The machine prepares a full breakfast including fried eggs, toasted and buttered/jammed bread, freshly squeezed orange juice, and brewed coffee—all automatically. Each component is handled by a separate mechanized process that works in sequence to deliver the complete meal.

How big is the breakfast machine?

The machine is 13 meters long and 3 meters wide, making it a large, complex structure that fills a significant amount of space. Its size reflects the multiple modules needed to prepare each part of the breakfast.

How long did it take to build the machine?

The breakfast machine was constructed in 11 days and 88 hours. The build involved a team effort with contributions from numerous volunteers and designers who helped with parts and assembly.

How much did the breakfast machine cost to make?

The total cost of the machine was approximately £900. Most of the materials were sourced from scavenged or inexpensive parts, including items like alarm clocks and record players repurposed for mechanical functions.

Did the machine really make coffee automatically?

Yes, the machine automatically grinds coffee beans, places them in a filter, and uses a pulley system to pour boiling water from an overhead kettle into the coffee grounds, brewing coffee without any manual intervention.

Who built the breakfast machine?

The breakfast machine was created by Japanese designers Suzuki Yurie and Kimura Masahiko. The project was developed at Amsterdam’s Platform 21 exhibition center with help from many volunteers and other designers who contributed parts and labor.

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